Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

The universe is run by AI gods, and Yasira Shien has run afoul of them. She's let in the outside, essentially unknowable entities of cosmic horror, and followed in the footsteps of her heretical mentor. Both of them were heretical thinkers, and Yasira, who doesn't think like most other people anyway, is approaching a radical new understanding of existence.

And now the Angels are after her. This is a fascinating neo-Lovecraftian/post-Skynet mash-up. With non-Euclidean angles. And angels.

This book, surprisingly, seems to be just what I wanted. There's a brilliant scientist with her mad scientist graduate advisor, there is technology with AIs turned to religion, and there's the Outside, an alternate dimension or reality right next to our own that breaks down the sanity of anyone who becomes aware of it. Or so it's said.

I enjoyed reading about Yasira, who I found relatable. After her pet space station project melted into another dimension, Yasira is recruited by the angels (technologically modifed humans who serve an AI deity) of Nemisis. Since Yasira's graduate advisor was the main suspect in this disaster, it was thought that Yasira might be one of the best people to track her.

Yasira doesn't trust the angels, exactly. She's never been able to give herself over to religion the way that most people do, the way that her girlfriend does. However, she's also pretty peeved at her mentor Talirr for not telling Yasira that she was teaching her heretical mathematics that were designed to allow the Outside in.

Talirr has her reasons, but she's not entirely sane and doesn't give a fig about collateral damage. Yasira is heartbroken over the people lost in the station disaster and wants to keep people safe from something like that happening again.

Everyone has a secret agenda and Yasira struggles to find her own agency among all of these powerful beings who aren't giving her enough information to be able to make an informed opinion.

There was some creepy imagery in the descriptions of the Outside, but the book was more about the ineffable nature of a different dimension than being horrific for horror's sake.

I'm very interested to see where the series goes next and look forward to the next book.

Yasira Shien, an autistic scientist, has developed a new energy drive that is very unconventional, but she's confident in her abilities and has no worries about whether or not it will work. When she starts the prototype, her engine creates a warp in reality and the space station where they are departing from - and everyone on board - is destroyed. Now, the AI Gods, who are rulers of the galaxy, have declared Shien's new drive heretical and the gods send their henchmen to kidnap her. Execution would be the normal punishment for heresy, but the gods make an offer. They will be lenient if she will help them find a bigger, more dangerous individual. And why would Shien have any special talent to find this individual? Because the target is Shien's mentor who disappeared years ago. But along the way, Shein will have to decide if she can trust the gods, or if a run-away scientist holds the key to her salvation.

The opening chapters of this book were really strong. I was drawn into the story and I could sense right away that this was something very unique with this story. Both the character of Yasira Shien and the science of her new energy drive, and the AI gods ... wow, this should be a really phenomenal read! But it's not.

The gods aspect is most interesting and carries through the entire novel and is also the least defined. We get a sense of the hierarchy (there are angels that work for these gods!), but I didn't understand why they were concerned over the actions of such a mortal. It's entirely possible the answers were here but I didn't see them, because...

Yasira Shien completely bored me.

Shien is the central character, our heroine that carries the story. She was motivated and exciting and engaging when she was dealing with her new energy drive at the start of the book, but once she was taken out of her element and put in the hands of the gods, she was about as dull as any main character I've ever read.

I have to say that I don't know enough (or much) about autism, so this could very well have an effect on my reading of the character. But at the same time, if this is important to understanding the character, then it needs to be presented and explained more directly.

She's also supposed to be a genius, which we see at the beginning, but I never sensed or saw it after she warped reality. We're told that she a genius a few times, but we don't see it after the opening.

This was a decent book with a lot of promise but it didn't hold together well for me.

Looking for a good book? <em>The Outside</em> by Ada Hoffmann has a number of unique qualities poising it for a strong sci-fi novel, but it suffers from a main character who can't quite shoulder being the main focus.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Science fiction of old had heroes based around the lantern jawed unflappable test pilots that started the space race. Once those perceptions start it creates multiple copycats and that creates the template. In space you are super focused and iron willed not broken by the stresses of space. But shouldn’t SF reflect everyone isn’t everyone entitled to be seen crossing into the final frontier? In Ada Hoffmann’s The Outside be prepared to meet a very different type of lead in a very inventive piece of future based science fiction.

In the far future humanity has created new AI Gods who rule the known universe and prevent people falling into bad ways. These gods reap the souls of the dead and the new pantheon has created augmented humans known as Angels to act as their avatar. They are constantly watching and their agendas unknown. Humanity is allowed some freedom and one experiment is looking at new ways of energy. Yashira Shien is an autistic scientist about to test the rules of physics in a prestigious space station watched over with her girlfriend Tiv watching on proudly. The experiment goes horribly wrong with many lives lost. Yashira expects the punishment of the gods to be fatal but instead she finds herself under the direction of the strange Angel Avaki who serves one of the most dangerous Gods. They are aware that Yashira was a student of the strange Dr Dr Talirr who seemed to have strange ideas on the wider universe – everything is a lie. The impacts that destroyed the space station are being seen across the galaxy and Talirr is a suspect. Yashira is coerced to assist the investigation and finds her old mentor is planning a truly dangerous battle of the gods and she needs to opick a side.

There is a lot to admire in this novel. The worldbuilding is fantastic – it’s a very unique set up of a world where people know the gods to be real and welcome their protection. It’s a hi technology universe with FTL spaceships, dimensional portals, AI interfaces and body augmentation all considered normal. But the threat Yashira has is something more primal and cosmic known as The Outside are forces of chaos that breach the universe and have devastating impacts on the worlds it touches including madness and destruction for the inhabitants. A compelling mix of horror and SF and the joy of the plot is working out what to do.

Bringing the sides of the conflict together we have at the centre Yashira and its really refreshing to have an autistic character as a lead. We see Yashira as a person and how they interpret the world and react to stress and have to battle to overturn their fears. Its not the first tale where we see someone learnt the world isn’t what you think it is, but this approach gives the reader a new look at the way other minds can see the world. And most people we meet don’t have any issues with that again refreshing. On both her sides whispering their worldviews we have the prickly and angry Dr Talirr a former mentor now very struck with a desire to strike back – almost shown as a dark reflection of Yashira. But in contrast we have the personality of Avaki who changes their appearance from human to alien, male to female scene by scene yet keeps a constant personality of cunning and strategy – very doggedly pulling Yashira into their game with Tallirr. Who exactly is in the right here is kept open for most of the novel and the lack of black and white morality in this universe is again compelling. My only issue was some pacing issues that I found dragged the latter half of the story while ideally I was hoping as tension ramped up that things would more quickly come to a head but there is a huge amount to enjoy here.

If you’re looking for some science fiction that is pushing the boundaries of what lead characters look like. If you enjoy inventive worldbuilding then I think this is for you and if you enjoy a touch of horror in your SF you may find this draws your attention. Definitely worth a look.

I got this ARC when I was in the middle of a weird reading slump/ romance binge and just never felt compelled to pick it up. AI Gods sounds like something made for me – and still, here is sits, nearly a year later, never once cracked open. I might read this at some point but not anytime soon. And I am feeling super guilty whenever the book basically stares at me from my Netgalley shelf. I am the worst reviewer.

He acabado gratamente sorprendida la lectura de The Outside, un libro que se sale claramente de mi zona de confort por sus referencias a horrores lovecraftianos, pero que trata temas de especulación muy interesantes y con una protagonista autista como en A las puertas de la nada de Corinne Duyvis. Y eso que la primera vez que empecé a leerla la tuve que dejar de lado porque no acababa de convencerme la lectura.

Sin embargo, una vez superada esa primera parte quizá de difícil comprensión (sin llegar a los niveles del primer libro del Hexarcado de Yoon Ha Lee, por ejemplo) el libro comienza a fluir. No digo que se convierta en un paseo por el campo, pero sí que comienza a tener una lógica interna que te permite disfrutar de una historia bastante dura con sus momentos de puro horror cósmico. Y eso es un gran mérito por parte de la autora, al menos para alguien como yo que no se acerca al terror muy a menudo.
En el universo que nos describe Ada Hoffman hay colonias humanas esparcidas por distintos mundos y estructuras orbitales, en cierto modo supeditadas a la voluntad de los dioses, que son computadores cuánticos evolucionados hasta ser prácticamente indistinguibles de los antiguos dioses. La estructura de poder de los dioses, apoyándose en arcángeles y otros humanos evolucionados con tecnología cuántica también resulta muy interesante.
Me gusta mucho la idea de que el desarrollo tecnológico que no cumple los estándares estipulados por los dioses se consideren herejías, como las afirmaciones de Servet o Galileo en su momento (se ve que aunque estemos en un futuro bastante lejano no hemos evolucionado tanto como especie). Aunque claro, cuando esta tecnología puntera puede dar rienda suelta a la presencia de horrores cósmicos en la puerta de al lado de tu casa, empieza a entenderse las restricciones a la investigación.
Es importante la especulación que realiza la autora, con ciencia ficción dura que se adentra en terrenos metafísicos, porque pone en juego la cordura del científico que osa andar esos caminos. Y qué maravilla que sea necesaria una estructura neuronal atípica para ser capaz de dar esos saltos intuitivos vetados al resto de los mortales. También es destacable la relación que la protagonista mantiene con su mentora, huida por sus ideas heréticas y también especial por esas mismas especulaciones. Vemos un juego del gato y el ratón, una persecución quizá ya dictada de antemano por fuerzas superiores que escapan a su comprensión pero que consigue mantener nuestra atención.
Quizá el punto débil del libro sea la relación amorosa en la que está inmersa la protagonista, que parece un poco de quita y pon, según la necesite o no la autora. También es posible que a mí no me haya parecido suficiente fascinada como estaba por los otros acontecimientos que se iban desplegando ante mí.
The Outside no es un para nada una lectura fácil, pero creo que si recompensa el esfuerzo invertido.

The world of The Outside is, at least at first glance, a pretty typical space opera world. Humans have colonized all sorts of planets; they are able to travel between those different worlds by using portals. However, those portals, as well as most of the advanced technologies available, are under the strict regulations of the gods. The gods are basically ascended artificial intelligences that have control over the world. To maintain that control, they need humans and more precisely: they need their souls. When you die, your soul gets absorbed by the god who suits you the most. In the worst-case scenario: that god is Nemesis, the one in charge of criminals and heretics – people whose beliefs are undermining the gods’ rule.

This notion of heresy is central to the world of The Outside and it is very reminiscent of Yoon Ha Lee’s Machineries of Empire. The reality and people’s beliefs are tightly intertwined. To keep a leash on reality, the god’s have to closely monitor heresy. A lack of control can lead to odd phenomenon and disturbances caused by a power called the Outside: a force that has the ability to challenge and overrule the gods.

Dr Yasira Shien is a young scientist in charge of an ambitious project: the Tallir-Shien reactor. This is the first human-constructed reactor of that scale and, because of how important it is, the construction is closely supervised by the gods. Before the launch, Shien has a feeling that something is amiss with the reactor and she tries to stop the project. However, it’s too late and, just as she predicted, something goes wrong during the launch, causing the death of many people.

Devastated and sure that she’s the cause of the accident, Yasira is arrested by angels – augmented humans who serves the gods. They tell her that her only way to redemption is to find the real culprit. Indeed, they inform her that the science used to run the reactor is in part heretical and caused the accident. However, most of the mathematics equations are not Yasira’s but originated from her mentor: Dr Evelina Tallir. Tallir disappeared a few years ago, leaving Yasira to finish the reactor with the help of her work.

Yasira doesn’t have a choice: she has to find her mentor to prove her innocence: to the gods and to herself.




Yasira is autistic and I think it’s my first time reading about a character openly described as such in a science fiction book. I really liked how the representation of Yasira’s condition was handled: she wasn’t reduced to her disability. However, even if in this world gender, sexuality and race are not causes of discrimination (we are introduced to Yasira’s girlfriend Tiv pretty early on in the book), a lot of people treat her like a madwoman because of her autism.

This notion of madness caused by mental health, created a very interesting parallel between Yasira’s perceived madness and the madness created by the Outside. Indeed, most people exposed to the Outside go mad and start doing heretical things. However, in both cases, the perceived madness is not, in fact, madness. It was fascinating to learn more about the Outside induced madness as the story moved along. I really liked how Hoffman slowly revealed more and more about the Outside and its effects on people.

I also really enjoyed how the two sides, Tallir and the gods, were both portrayed as pretty terrible. Yasira can either choose between her former mentor, a woman who probably knowingly caused the death of hundreds if not thousands of people, and the gods - who probably did even worse. In the end, even I, struggled to choose the lesser evil of the two.

However, even if I’m having a lot of fun writing this post now and that I can really admire how clever this book is, I have to say that I struggled while reading The Outside. It’s a case of “it’s not you it’s me” but, I started this book right at the beginning of my reading slump back in June and it took me four months to finish it. It really affected my enjoyment of the story. Having said that, it’s an objectively very good and ambitious debut: it has a lot of strong points and clever ideas so I would still highly recommend it. I’ll definitely be reading other stories by Hoffman.

Four stars.




I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Angry Robots. All opinions are my own.

I was provided with an ARC of this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the premise of this book. The genius of a savant becomes a weapon of horror and brings about her fall from glory. Instead of being punished for her audacity, she is offered a bargain. Her life in exchange for that of her elusive mentor.

See?!!!! Doesn't it sound darkly intriguing? Like you could get sucked into this intricate black hole of a plot and struggle to find your breath?

But that's not the way it happened for me. I struggled for months - and months - and months- to finish it. I kept getting sidetracked by other books, and the plodding pace after the first few chapters had me blinking away my boredom. I finally muscled through.

This was a solid novel, just not my cup of tea.

My review at the Hugo finalist Nerds of a Feather blog:

http://www.nerds-feather.com/2019/07/microreview-book-outside-by-ada-hoffmann.html

3.5 the truth is not always there stars

En "The Outside" la autora explora el espacio y más allá bajo la mirada de una cientifica autista lesbiana, con elementos lovecraftianos aunados a una sociedad futurista donde unas Inteligencias Artificiales han ascendido al estatus de dioses encargados de dirigir el destino de la humanidad y les han llevado a las estrellas.

Esto conlleva a un planteamiento del pensamiento y como es la realidad del universo.


Yasira esta probando un nueva forma de energia creada por humanos en 2791, a diferencia de la tecnologia que es manejada solamente por los dioses (antiguas megacomputadoras que de alguna forma alcanzaron una conciencia hace mucho tiempo) , cuando se cumple su presentimiento de que algo va a salir fatal .

Es entonces que se ve separada de todo lo conocido y los angeles de Nemesis, la diosa que castiga a los herejes, encabezados por Akavi le dan la mision de descubrir el paradero de su antigua mentora y detener esta destrucción provocada por The Outside.
La verdad es que se me hizo pesado el libro, no es que sea malo, sino que hay que estar muy en onda de meterse en el tema de lo que es no realidad y toda la seudociencia que aparece por aqui, pero más que nada fue que en ningun momento consegui que me simpatizara la protagonista: Yasira. Y coincido de paso con lo que dijeron otros comentaristas que ella no parece realmente que fuera autista como se publicita tanto (pese a que la autora comparte esto). Todo el estres no es más que el que sentiria cualquiera al verse enfrentada a situaciones semejantes. Otra cosa que molesta bastante en este personaje es que a su pareja, Tiv, se refiere durante tooodo el libro como "una buena chica" en tono ironico y hasta me parece que peyorativo.

Lo que si me intersó , por otra parte en este libro , fue la idea de los dioses artificiales (aunque, vale , la idea no es que sea tan nueva puesto que los autores como Asimov ya se lo planteaban en 1950s, y varias series de los 60s ya lo ponian), pero me hubiese gustado que se extendieran más con eso. Akavi tambien me parecio un personaje interesante, al igual que como se planteaba su realacion con los su supervisora y los otros angeles bajo su comando como Elu y Enga.

Merece que le den una oportunida y a ver que les parece.


-------------------------------
original review in english:

Yasira Shien is a scientist working in a new human tech in a spacial station in 2791 when all goes terrible wrong. Now the gods and angels give her another assignment.

It is not a bad book, but in my case it made me go uphill to finish reading it. It is probably because my neurons were not on par with the pseudoscience that appears here, but in large part it was because I could not connect at any time with the protagonist: Yasira. It didn't matter to me what happened to her. What would have interested me to know more about me was about the computer system and the angels.

Supercomputers as gods is not something new in the world of science fiction. Asimov employed several of them in stories of the 50s managing Humanity. These AIs took humans to the stars to poblate other planets. They still need humans.

The Gods rewarded people when they died; that was part of the point of Gods. They collected souls and sorted them. Souls were somewhat diffuse, and even Gods couldn’t data-mine all the specific details of a single life. But souls took on patterns, and the Gods’ technology could recognize those patterns. They could discern the deepest passions that had driven a person through their life. And when the Gods chose souls to become part of Themselves, to keep Themselves running, they chose by matching the soul’s pattern to the most appropriate God. Hence Aletheia, who took the people driven by a thirst for knowledge. Techne, who took engineers and artists, people devoted to creation in its every form. And so on down the list, from Gods like Arete who took brave heroes, to Gods who took the worst of the worst.


Here the 'Angels' are the gods little helpers.

Angels themselves were another thing entirely. More than half of an angel’s brain was God-built, the old neurons burned away in favor of something immortal and impartial. To become an angel, a human abandoned everything. Went off into the sky and lived out that long life doing only and entirely the Gods’ bidding.



The Outside menace all.

Like any other aspect of the universe, the idea of Outside appears in many non-human cultures. Often this is not apparent at first glance: the requisite concepts are frequently taboo, esoteric, or situated in the guise of myth and fiction. However, any culture studied in sufficient detail will yield up a word, and often a fairly sophisticated system of safeguards and protections, for the things in this universe which are inherently incomprehensible to sentient minds. The semantics of the word chosen can be culturally informative. My favorite, of course, is the spider term: Îsîrinin-neri-înik, or that which eats reality.


-About Yasira: I agree with other reviewers that the fact that Yasira was autistic is not consistent with how she faces the events in the plot of the story, although perhaps it is intended to demonstrate on the other hand that this makes her more able to think differently from the rest or more susceptible to the Outside. Besides, it grate on that Yasira kept referring to her partner -Tiv- all the time as a 'good girl'. It's been a while since I've been mad that the media insists that all good people are idiots.

In another hand, Akavi (the angel of Nemesis) is very interesting, as well as his interactions with the oversees, Elu, and Enga (whom stole the plot a couple of times).

And the Outside, well, the mumble grumble about warped reality, and the apatic monsters in the deep, and all depends of perception were interesting too, but sort of repetitive at the end.

At the end, I sort of wished that they eliminate /SPOILER--->the evil scientist but maybe it will be a next book, I don't know<---SPOILER/

Not bad, not bad at all.

Man, long time no see am I right? Let’s pretend July didn’t happen, except for all the cool books that came out. (Or June. I think I dropped the ball on June too, but don’t worry about it. Summer’s weird.)

But let’s dive into this week’s book: THE OUTSIDE by Ada Hoffman!


(Shoutout to Angry Robot and Netgalley for my copy – they own my soul at this point and I’m not even mad.)

“Autistic scientist Yasira Shien has developed a radical new energy drive that could change the future of humanity. But when she activates it, reality warps, destroying the space station and everyone aboard. The AI Gods who rule the galaxy declare her work heretical, and Yasira is abducted by their agents. Instead of simply executing her, they offer mercy – if she’ll help them hunt down a bigger target: her own mysterious, vanished mentor. With her homeworld’s fate in the balance, Yasira must choose who to trust: the gods and their ruthless post-human angels, or the rebel scientist whose unorthodox mathematics could turn her world inside out.”

My first thought? “Lovecraft, but make it GAY.” Like, we’re all aware that the man named his cat . . . that . . . and was just an all-in-all jerkwad, right? So I’m living for the idea of taking his legacy and making it super gay and super neurodivergent and all he can do it die mad about it.

(I say this knowing full well he’s already dead. What’s he gonna do, come back to life to correct me? I want him to. Just so I can put him back in the dirt again.)

There’s something refreshing about reading a story that features neurodivergency as a facet of a person, instead of their super power or their cross to bear. There’s a whole page on TV Tropes that talks about this, and while I’ve got no problem with actual neurodivergent people writing this trope, it’s exhausting to see this sort of thing over and over in media from people who see the characters of these tropes and compare them to the real-life neurodivergent people in their lives. It’s seeing someone as just a stereotype, and not taking into account the fact that they’re people, you know? Like, they’re these one-dimensional things that have one whole aspect about them worth noting, and even then it’s only worth noting if it’s something that benefits and aids a neurotypical character.

So yeah. None of that happens in this book. It’s all great. Yasira is treated with the utmost respect (mostly), and doesn’t exist to just be a weird Rain Man-eque sidekick for someone else, or a spectacle to behold like an animal in a cage. This comes from the fact that the author is also autistic, and isn’t afraid to lead up by the ear and say, “And THIS is how this actually works.”

Because we see the meldowns! We see people reminding Yasira that she has to eat, we see her picky about textures! And you know what else we see? People treating every single one of these things with the respect it deserves – no one yells at her and tells her to stop throwing a tantrum, no one makes her wear or touch things she doesn’t want to. And the moment someone breaches these regulations, we know that it’s a bad thing.

Like, straight up. Mad props to Ada Hoffman for sitting down at her computer and saying, “I’m gonna be That Guy(c),” and schooling everyone.

–

Another thing I absolutely enjoy in The Outside is the phenomenon of the Outside itself. I firmly believe that it’s got to be one of the scariest antagonistic forces I’ve read about this year. Like, this thing alters reality around you – as well as your perception of reality. That’s always been the scariest thing to me, the idea of someone changing my perception of reality against my will.

And there’s no fixing it! It’s incurable and you can’t fix it and if you’re too infected with it, you kind of die! Like!!!!!! Holy crap guys!!!

What can I say. I like the existential horror of it all. It’s my favorite kind of horror.

But all in all, these was a fantastic read. I’m only sorry that it took me this long to tell you about it.

Check out the podcast episode THIS EPISODE IS A LIE out now on iTunes!

The autism representation was just too off the tracks for me in this one. You can't teach people with autism to identify social constructs they don't see in the first place, and to be embarrassed about breaking them... like being too blunt (truthful). It's like saying you can teach a colorblind person to see colors they can't physically see because being able to sort laundry is a great skill to have. Trying to make those with autism more socially "acceptable" isn't for them, it's for you. What will make them happy is for you to understand how they function and be accepting if it, or at the least tolerant.

And yes, I do realize that the author did finally say in the story that this was a bad thing, and I don't know whether it was the way it was presented (at least one of the characters was "successfully" taught "trained" to be embarrassed of her socially unacceptable behaviors), or that it wasn't spotlighted as being a negative thing until quite late in the story, but many readers were saying how great it was that people with autism have hope to be better at socializing in public. Regardless of the author's intention, the message was misconstrued. Parents and caretakers of those with autism have a hard enough time making the public understand behaviors as it is, without giving the idea they just aren't trying hard enough.

The scifi elements of the story were interesting and fresh, and there were some solid messages about religion and government, but the faulty autism rep overshadowed all of that for me. I was also only mildly invested in the characters.

This was a very interesting concept but I felt like the execution was a bit complicated yet at the same time it was the right course? I'm a bit confused on what to feel about this book since there were many things introduced with minimal explanation to half of them. Nevertheless, it felt mind opening so I enjoyed it most of the time when I wasn't confused or tired from summer courses.

What I found the most interesting in this book is the world setting. It's the first I've ever read and I really loved how natural it flowed. In the book, extremely advanced AI have become "Gods" because they have become sentient and are worshipped. They also collect human souls after they pass away and depending on the soul, they would be absorbed by a God that fit them closest.

Technology is way advanced compared to the real world since there are portals, space ships orbiting moons and so on. Despite that, humans have limited/restricted use to any of them unless it was approved by the Gods.

Now because the Gods need to absorb human souls to continue being sentient, they need human trusts to continually do so. Otherwise, humans will reject them and they will eventually go back to being normal computers. Here comes The Outside which could put all that in jeopardy. People exposed to Outside can either go crazy or become a heretic which may be able to influence others to share their views.

For the characters, there wasn't much focus on others besides Yasira, Akavi and Dr. Tallir. It was interesting to read the chapters in Yasira's point of view. I'm not very familiar with how autistic people without mental retardation act and thinks so I can't say how accurate it is. However, autism in the book isn't viewed as something bad and it is quite common actually. Moreover, this book doesn't discriminate about people's sexuality and many families are actually from the same sex or in legal polyamorous marriages.

Overall, I found the concepts introduced interesting though I felt like nothing much happened in the first half. I was more interested in the Keres than the Outside and wished there was more focus on it. The ending was great though it was a too open-ended that I felt like the problem wasn't really solved.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

This was a fabulous read! I loved that the main character was autistic, and that being on the spectrum was something that some societies (in this book) prized. How cool is that! The concept of the gods was suitably twisty and menacing, and Hoffmann tossed in some great plot twists! I've been recommending this one at my library.

Lovecraftian Space Opera written by an autistic woman. Be still my beating heart.
For as much as a terrible (read: TERRIBLE) person H.P. Lovecraft was, wow I just love the monsters he created. So to read something with the same general feel, without the racism, sexism, and general awfulness? Wonderful.

Yarisa Shien lives with her girlfriend on the Pride of Jai but when the space drive that she's invented destroys the space station and a third of the people on it, that's when the story gets started. Yarisa gets swept into something much larger than herself, the gods of her universe, her old professor, and what lies beyond.

Both the main and one of the secondary characters are autistic, something that we see far too infrequently in science fiction (GIVE ME MORE SCIENCE FICTION WITH NEURO-ATYPICAL CHARACTERS PLEASE.) I was particularly interested in this book! I really liked how being autistic was just part of this character's life. It was apparent in how she handled situations she was in, and how she thought about things, etc. It wasn't only a storytelling device, something to be discussed only to further the plot on, then disappear when the situation 'didn't call for it'.
The story has autistic characters and that's part of what builds their character.
I am not personally autistic so I can't speak to how on point Ada Hoffmann's portrayal of her characters stands up. Since she herself is autistic and passionate about portraying similar characters, I'm going to assume she did a good job representing realistically and fairly.

The religious system that Hoffmann invented was particularly fascinating. Clearly based on religions of today and the past, she invented something similar enough to be understandable, but still very other. I tend to really enjoy science fiction and fantasy with creative religions, so I particularity enjoyed that part.
The Outside and the way it influences the world is what's really Lovecraftian and I loved every moment of it.
The ending is very open, so I'm really hoping that means a sequel is in the works!

Warnings:
Moderate amount of cursing, usually 'F'.
Torture scene about 3/4ths of the way through the book. Very obvious that it's about to happen if you need to skip over the scene.

I was browsing through the Netgalley archive looking for something new to read when I stumbled across <i>The Outside</i> by Ada Hoffmann. I was drawn in by the cover art of looping tentacles and a blurb that promised "cosmic horrors" and "space opera" which are two of my all-time favorite things. While I am a firm believer in judging books by covers, I had just finished the excellent <i>The Resurrectionists</i> by Michael Hicks and I was a little reluctant to embark on another Lovecraftian adventure. The brief synopsis, though, was irresistible - a book about an autistic quantum physicists who lives in a universe populated by A.I. Gods and where people talk to angels? Yes, please.

If you're expecting Cthulhu in space, you're going to be disappointed. This book is Lovecraftian in the sense that it plays with the idea that what we perceive as the universe around us is only a small part of a much bigger picture. The mad scientists (or as the AI call them, "Heretics") are the researchers attempting to peal back the skin of reality to see what lies beneath. In <i>The Outisde</i>, one of the things that lies underneath the skin of the observable universe eats a space station whose reactor was unwittingly built on the foundation of heretical science. Yasira, the scientist responsible for building the reactor, could sense that something was wrong (her boss just thought she was being autistic) with the design, but didn't realize the exotic energies her reactor produced was tentacle kibble until it was too late. With the space station destroyed along with 100 of her scientist friends, Yasira is given a choice - spend six months in quarantine with a bunch of folks who would like to kill her or accept a job from the scariest of AI gods to hunt down the mentor/teacher who corrupted her education by exposing her to heretical science.

If this sounds complicated, it's because it is, but not in an <i>I can't understand what is going on sort of way</i>, but a <i>this is the most fully realized, original science fiction universe since The Expanse</i> kind of way. This is Ada Hoffmann's greatest accomplishment with <i>the Outside</i>, she has created a living, breathing universe and filled it with living, breathing characters. The villains do more than twirl mustaches, wear dark sunglasses, and fly around in ebony ships; they express thoughts and points of view that are compelling and understandable. When Yasira finally catches up with Dr. Evianna Talirr and demands an explanation for being exposed to heretical science and her attacks on the fabric of reality, her answer is very human. The reader might not be willing to forgive Dr. Talirr's behavior, but it is hard to see the mad scientist as anything more than a tragic, broken human being.

<i>The Outside</i> ends with the promise of another book coming and it can't get here soon enough. I want to know how the AI Gods rose to power. What were the Morlock wars? Why is human technology made up of transistor tubes, while the AI can teleport across the universe? What happened to all the failed AIs that were exiled? Nemesis is obviously playing a game of thrones with the other AIs.; what is his/her/its endgame?

The Outside by Ada Hoffmann is the author's debut novel. It is a far-future science fiction story with some really interesting world-building details and an autistic protagonist. I enjoyed it a lot.

The Pride of Jai was supposed to be humanity's greatest accomplishment—a space station made entirely by humans and their primitive computers, without "divine" cyber-technology provided by the sentient quantum supercomputers worshipped as Gods. And it was supposed to be a personal triumph for its young lead scientist, physicist Yasira Shien, whose innovative mathematics was key to the reactor powering it.

But something goes wrong in Yasira's reactor, leading to an unexplained singularity that destroys The Pride of Jai and most of the people on it—and placing Yasira in the sights of angry Angels, the cyborg servants of the Gods.

According to the angels, Yasira's reactor malfunction was the latest in a rising tide of disasters, intentionally caused to exploit vulnerabilities in the very pattern of spacetime and usher in horrific beings from beyond reality itself. They believe that the woman behind the disasters is Yasira's long-vanished mentor, Dr Evianna Talirr—and they believe that Yasira, Dr Talirr's favorite student, is the only one who can help them find her.

Spirited off to the edge of the galaxy and with her whole planet's fate, and more, hanging in the balance, Yasira must decide who to trust: the ruthless angels she was always taught to obey without question—or the heretic scientist whose plans could change everything she knows to be true about reality.

Really, the most interesting part of this story was the world-building and everything that went with it. From the very beginning, we see that humanity has spread through the galaxy, but that their level of technological advancement isn't necessarily what we might normally expect. As we learn fairly early on, this is because the gods have declared certain technologies to be heretical — in particular, anything that comes close to AI since the gods themselves are very advanced AIs. They allow people use (god-built) advanced technology such as portals, but prevent humanity from fully understanding how it works. This is the climate in which our protagonist, Yasira, finds herself accidentally building heretical technology. And not just any technology, technology that malfunctions unusually and gets a lot of people killed.

This kicks off a story in which Yasira is pulled around by powerful people with competing interests while, at first, she doesn't fully understand what's going on. Although there's a lot of dramatic science fiction (bordering on horror) stuff going on, at its core the story is about Yasira's journey of self-discovery and understanding. We see her being different things to different people and, eventually, coming to understand who she is to herself. All this against a backdrop of science fiction horror events — although I want to stress the book itself isn't horror, it contains some elements borrowed from the genre.

In the end, good books can be the hardest to review. I liked The Outside for the reasons mentioned above (though how much I can keep repeating the phrase "world-building" without straying into spoiler territory, I don't know). It also worked well as a package and, intrigued as I was by the setting, I would definitely be interested in reading more set in this world, whether or not it's about the same characters. The book is self-contained but was left open for possible "further adventures", so I'm crossing my fingers. I highly recommend this book to fans of science fiction, perhaps with a dash of horror, weird science (although it's not heavy science, aside from a few irrelevant details near the start), and moral ambiguity. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more from this author.

5 / 5 stars

First published: June 2019, Angry Robot
Series: I don't think so, but there's potential for more books in the series, which I would definitely be up for
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

The Outside is a definite mind-bender, serving up shock and awe from the start. What begins as the launch of a cutting edge engine for a run-of-the-mill space station becomes a universe-altering fiasco that has far-reaching implications. The worldbuilding is top notch, slowly revealing this fascinating existence combining future humanity with Gods who run the galaxy with iron fists. It’s equal parts exhilarating space opera and scientific horror, presenting the unknown in epic fashion. The author’s originality shines through, leaving you with the compelling story of a brilliant scientist tasked with solving an impossible mystery.

This original, dystopian science fiction adventure features brilliant Yasira Shien, who happens to be on the autistic spectrum and gay. I liked the main protagonist, whose autism was convincingly depicted throughout, especially when she was in difficult situations – which happened a lot, especially when everything went to hell in a handcart on The Pride of Jai. Her emotions around Tiv, her lover, are clearly strong but curiously limited in the manner in which she thinks of her and describes her – but that also chimes with her being autistic. Her mentor, Dr Talirr, also one of the main characters, is also autistic but more profoundly affected than Yasira in that she struggles to connect with anyone – except Yasira, and even then she finds it very difficult, except in a time of ultimate crisis, to reach out to her. I thought it heartening to have two major characters so atypical and I think Hoffmann has brilliantly depicted them.

In contrast to the two main human protagonists is the main antagonist, Akavi. He/It is a cyborg angel charged with preventing the Outside – a fractured quantum-like reality that twists and warps our own space-time continuum and anyone unfortunate to get caught up in it – from breaking through. And when the Outside does manifest, Akavi has the task of hushing up the whole incursion. This cyborg has been designed to interact effectively with humans, persuading them to trust and rely on him, all the while well aware that if he doesn’t sort out the problem, he is likely to be effectively killed. As he is immortal, this is a very big deal – and in comparison, human lives are of little consequence, so he doesn’t mind if a number of them are killed in the process. Although no one wants to provoke mortals into rebelling again as the last time that happened, the war was messy and killed far too many of them. Besides, the cyborg angels need humanity.

If you’re thinking this is an intriguing set-up, you’re right. Overall, I really enjoyed the twists and turns of this ambitious sci fi adventure, which effectively raised questions such as – what is it that makes us human? What is the nature of reality and how do we define it when it starts fraying at the edges? And how do we ultimately define ourselves? Highly recommended for fans of intelligent science fiction adventure featuring atypical protagonists. While I obtained an arc of The Outside from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10